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Criminal Element is celebrating “Allison Brennan August” — LOL. I cracked up when I saw the plan, but I’m really excited because my Maxine Revere/Lucy Kincaid crossover SHATTERED will be out on August 22 and leading up to it, Criminal Elements is reviewing all 12 of the Lucy Kincaid books, the 3 Max Revere books, and all their respective novellas.

And today I have a guest blog!

The end of last week and all weekend I was writing blogs and articles for different websites and my publisher. All things that need to be done … but isn’t actually writing. I mean, it’s WRITING, but not creative writing. I’m in the middle of writing ABANDONED, Maxine Revere #5, while awaiting revisions for BREAKING POINT, Lucy Kincaid #13. Still, it was fun and a needed break.

Oh, and I’m writing a short story for a charity anthology to benefit victims of domestic violence. It was an idea and draft I had a long time ago, but didn’t have the skill to write it the way I wanted … now, hopefully, I do.

Well, that sounds pessimistic! Truly, I’m jumping up and down for joy (well, sagging tired in my chair) because I’m DONE with BREAKING POINT. I sent the draft off to my editor at the same time I lamented my miserable process.

I love my muse, but she’s a total bitch.

It took me more than two full months to write the first 85,000 words of BREAKING POINT. And 3 days to write the last 25,000+ words. I have had some 10K+ days, but they are few and far between and NEVER two in a row. In fact, usually when I have a writing day that exceeds about 5K words, the next day or two are sluggish.

SHATTERED is my fourth Maxine Revere cold case mystery. More than a year ago, I’d started writing a book I called THE EX-WIFE which had a completely different plot concept. I initially liked the idea, but I couldn’t get into the story. Then a series of small things happened.

First, I saw an episode of some television show. I honestly can’t remember what show, probably SVU or NCIS, but it was a common enough plot for a crime show, a twist on the Strangers on a Train theme. SHATTERED has nothing to do with any twist on STRANGERS, but remember, I was thinking about my current story THE EX-WIFE where I was having trouble figuring out the killer’s motivation.

The original story also dealt with being wrongly accused of a crime. Max originally was investigating two cases, one where the suspect was innocent and one where the suspect was guilty. But Max deals with cold cases, and I was having a difficult time getting her involved in an active police investigation. Because she’s a reporter, and the police would totally freeze her out. So I was writing and re-writing the set-up trying to get a grip on the core story.

This blog was originally published two years ago today at the Kill Zone, and the link popped up in my facebook feed. It’s not only as relevant as it was two years ago, but perhaps more so as the glut of self-published books has increased. Plus, as I re-read the history behind my first (unpublished) book, it reminded me not only of how far I have come since 2002 when I decided to commit myself to a writing career, but how far I’ve come in the last two years … and how far I still need to go. I’ve been doing a lot of creative soul searching lately and experiencing a lot of self-doubt. This is not uncommon among writers, but sometimes it’s important to see where we’ve been to know where we’re going.

Thanks Jodie Renner for hosting me on Kill Zone two years ago — and today, I’m just as happy to discuss this article with those who are interested.

* * *

In 2002, I finished my first full-length novel, a masterful romantic suspense. It had everything … and I mean everything … that a romantic suspense novel could have.

A Heroine … beautiful, smart, sweet. And a virgin. She was a computer expert who worked from home.

A Hero … tough, dedicated, handsome. And a cop.

A Chance Encounter … the heroine thought the hero was an intruder in her apartment building. An old house converted into three flats. How was she to know the landlord had rented the vacant unit?

A Villain … he worked at the coffee shop where the heroine bought her morning coffee after her daily run. He loved her. He was certain she felt the same way, but he couldn’t talk to her, so he stalked her.

A Victim (or five) … the villain, unable to share his feelings for the heroine, rapes women who look like her. Of course my hero catches the serial rape case.

The Ex-Girlfriend … the hero has a psycho ex-girlfriend who is none too happy when she sees the hero kissing the heroine. At some point, she trashes the Heroine’s apartment.

The Ex-Fiancé … yes, the heroine had been engaged. She broke it off for some reason I don’t remember (but I’m sure it was a very good reason), and then she learned that her ex was selling company secrets to a rival. So of course she turned him in.

The Heroine’s Brother. A priest. Well, a former Marine turned priest. (Why? I don’t know. It sounded good at the time.)

Danger. The Heroine’s ex-fiancé, furious that he was fired, plots to embezzle money from the company. But he needs the Very Smart Heroine to hack into the system and steal the payroll before it’s direct-deposited into employee accounts. To force her to help him, he and his gang hold her brother (the former Marine turned priest) hostage, shooting him in the leg when she refuses to help.

I have long been a fan of Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars anyone?) and my dream job (other than what I do now) would be to collaborate with him on a project. (Or, Rob Thomas and Joss Whedon.) Other than the fact that I’m not funny (really — I’m not. I don’t write humor. But I can do the suspense and story really well and have someone else write the humor.) I loved the ComicCon iZombie panel that featured not only the actors, but Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, his co–creator for the show. These are people who think like I do! LOL. Writers are certainly a strange lot.

Anyway, my kids will probably kill me, but I watched iZombie without them (yet will have no problem watching it again.)

Last month, I wrote an article for Heroes & Heartbreakers about why iZombie is the perfect show to watch for those who love BONES. I won’t go into details here (but you can read the article!), but to summarize iZombie has dark humor, great characters, and is at its core a police procedural/ensemble buddy show. Just like Bones.

But what I didn’t write about was the quality of the storytelling–and why iZombie is arguably the most underrated show on television today.

Click through for a recap semi-spoilery recap of Season 3, Episode 1: “Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother.”

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.